In Visible Light
by Achariyth1
Summary: In the wake of the Razing of the Hakurei Border, Sakuya and Youmu chase down a strange commotion at the edge of Gensokyo.  Part of the Clockwork Devils cycle and one of the parallel sequels to Look to the Eastern Sky.


**In Visible Light**

A tale of the Clockwork Devils written by Achariyth

Touhou Project belongs to ZUN and Team Shanghai Alice. I own nothing, and I will remove this work of fiction from any site I can upon a request from ZUN or his legal representatives. I also request that any site that posts this work agree to do the same.

_This story begins one of the parallel sequels to "Look to the Eastern Sky" and assumes some familiarity with that work._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: From the Shadows<strong>

Aqua light clung to Youmu Konpaku's finger like syrup as she poked Gensokyo's new Yasaka-Kochiya Barrier. As she drew her hand away, the energies beaded on the swordswoman's fingertip. She smiled, and the aqua curtain bulged outward as something vaporous and indistinct pushed into it.

"I don't think Sanae would appreciate you poking another hole in there," Sakuya said. She eyed her friend. "Doesn't that hurt?"

Youmu laughed as her ghost half flew away from the barrier and hovered by her shoulder. "It just tickles like bubbles."

Sakuya almost wished that she had never introduced some of her indulgent pleasures to Youmu. After the bubble bath, _everything _tickled like bubbles. It could have been worse; the swordswoman had taken to chocolate with all the voracity of a deprived addict. "Come on, she's still out there."

Youmu nodded as she stepped away from Gensokyo's border. "Right."

In the wake of the Hakurei Barrier's fall, the two girls had all but assumed Reimu and Marisa's self-appointed responsibilities as humanity protectors from youkai. So far, Rumia proved to be the chief annoyance. Most _youkai_ knew not to taunt the Green-White and the Blue-White, as Youmu and Sakuya were increasing named in private. Instead, the shadow _youkai_ had flown circles around the _youkai _hunters. So far, they had frustrated Rumia's attempts to feed on stragglers and lost humans, but as Rumia often taunted, she only had to get lucky once.

"It's weird," Youmu said. She weaved through the brush while her ghost self passed through all obstacles. "We haven't seen any of the rogue _youkai_."

Sakuya thought for a moment. Rumia was far from the only man-eater they had encountered, just the most annoying. Youmu was right; there had been no sign of the ferals. Instead, the land had that peculiar stillness that occurred whenever something nasty lurked near by. "Maybe they realize we're not to be trifled with."

Youmu pursed her lips. "No, something in the air feels different…" The maid bit back a sigh. Normally, Sakuya hated it when people went mystical on her, but Youmu was a living paradox, part human and part ghost, with the senses of both.

A wordless shout amplified by many voices shook the fields and trees. Fairies and birds took flight; the birds to escape, while the fey clustered, chattering as they swarmed to the south.

Youmu's blade flew free as she settled into The Serpent Waits. "What was that?" she asked, gliding across the field with short, quick steps.

Sakuya dropped into a crouch, knives blossoming from her hands like cactus spines. She relaxed, lowering the fanned knives. "I don't know. All those fairies and not a single burst of danmaku?" The fairies continued to swarm, creating a river of color in the sky, flowing over the horizon.

"Let's find out." Youmu stepped into Bitter Rain before sheathing her sword. She flew after the fairies, ghostly images surrounding her.

"Milady, forgive me, I might not be back for dinner," Sakuya muttered, flying after Youmu.

* * *

><p>The river of fey plunged towards the ground like a rainbow. Sakuya and Youmu flew along side, landing in a clearing at the edge of a forest.<p>

"Shouldn't they be shooting at us by now?" Youmu said, crouching into the beginning stance of Hawk Takes a Dove.

Sakuya looked around at the brush. Hundreds of eyes blinked back at her. Low giggles whispered through the clearing. Holding her hands up, she rested a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Put that up, or they might just start," she hissed, nodding towards Youmu's bared blade.

The blade flicked through Rain Falls before sliding into its sheath. However, Youmu's ghost self split. Two floating orbs trailed vapor as they looped spirals around the swordswoman. She rested on her knees, her hands resting near the sword's hilt.

"That's not helping," Sakuya said, inching away from her friend.

"Why are you here?" Daiyousei called out in a stage whisper. All whispers stopped as the greater fairy walked out into the clearing. Cirno and Lily trailed behind her like ladies-in-waiting.

"We thought there was an incident," Sakuya said. Daiyousei motioned for the maid to keep her voice down. Rumors of a fairy court flashed through Sakuya's mind. Did she see the famous Seelie Court in front of her? With all the fairies near by, there would be no way to dodge all the danmaku. It reminded her of the battle with the Moon Princess.

"Only if you get in our way," Daiyousei said. Frost glimmered in Cirno's hands as she winked at the humans.

Sunny crashed through the thicket. "It's starting! It's starting!"

"You are welcome to join us, but don't disturb what you are about to see," Daiyousei said. Together with her attendants, she followed Sunny as the Fairy of Light ran through the hole in the brush she had just made.

"Secretive fairies. This won't turn out well," Youmu said, crouching low as she slipped through the thicket.

"It never does," Sakuya said. While it rankled her to take orders from fairies, the maid hid her irritation behind a smooth face. She followed behind, grimacing as branches tugged at her skirt. Branches snapped under foot and fairies hissed. The maid stumbled blindly through the shrubs until an arm held her back.

"I've got you," Youmu whispered. "Stay down, though."

"What's going-?" Sakuya said. She looked out of the brush and covered her mouth. "Oh, my."

Her hiding place overlooked a field in the shadow of a small hill. Precisely arranged lines of tents closed off a large square bordered by the forest. Black and red banners flew throughout the camp. A formation of muscular soldiers, each stripped to the waist, stood patiently waiting.

Well, that explained the fairies' voyeuristic interest. Sakuya turned to leave.

The drums started. Low and syncopated, the rhythm called viscerally to her. A squad of troops turned and marched out front of the formation. Fairies squealed and sighed next to the maid.

"And I have to be quiet?" Sakuya muttered, ignoring the glare of the closet fairy.

"Any idea about what's going on?" Youmu asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it's one of those secret male ceremonies that they try to keep us from," Sakuya mused. A murmur ran through the fairies and even Youmu, who inched closer to the edge of the forest. The maid squinted as she looked across the field, eyeing the peculiar design seen throughout the camps, a butterfly over an eight-spoked wheel. Pulling out her ever-present notebook and pen, she sketched a copy onto a blank page.

The drums rolled and a servant handed out sheathed blades to each soldier. As one, the soldiers pulled the blades free and raised the hilts to their eyes in salute. Squeals and hushed whispers ran through the bushes as the drum roll ended.

A single _shamisen_, or three-stringed lute, twanged up and down through a scale. The first soldier in line, a wiry young man with long black hair bound in a tight braid, stepped out in front of the line. He knelt down on one knee, holding the blade straight out from his side.

"Why is he doing that? It's not even practical," Youmu muttered, her eyes narrowing in keen appraisal. A dozen fairies shushed her.

After thumping and plucking through one last descending scale, the _shamisen_ pedaled through a set of octaves. The soldier spun to his feet, the sword whipping around in complicated figures. He stepped through a complicated _kata_, fending off attacks from an imaginary opponent in time with the _shamisen's _relentless droning. The music crescendoed to a final cadence, and the soldier spun about, driving his sword through the gap between his arm and his body.

"Threading the Needle," Youmu gasped, her eyes shining. "I've only heard of it."

Sakuya rolled her eyes. If your opponent was silly enough to be caught by a showy little trick like that, chances were you had already cut him from neck to navel with something simpler. "It's just a _kata_."

"Philistine," Youmu said, sticking her tongue out at the maid. Sakuya shrugged. Maybe she deserved it; swordcraft was Youmu's life. The heavens knew that the ghostly gardener had looked like a fairy caught in a Master Spark when Sakuya first showed her how to do a proper tea ceremony. Did she have to use a term that reeked of inelegance?

The formation chanted as the lines of men spread out into a wide semicircle. A second soldier spun out of the line, his blade flashing as it sought the first soldier's belly. The first parried the stroke on the music's downbeat, accompanied by the wordless squeal of fairies. The two soldiers stepped circles around each other, trading blows in a rehearsed pattern timed to the _shamisen's _twangs. Sakuya finally recognized the display for what it was, a sword dance.

Youmu pursed her lips as she watched, her bright eyes drinking in every movement.

The ancient challenge unfolded. The participants adjusted the speed of their footwork and their sword patterns to the ever-quickening tempo of the music until speed, precision, or strength finally failed. Rumor had it that men used such dances as an alternative to spell card duels, but no reputable woman had ever seen one before now.

Up and down the line, fairies and even Youmu cooed and cheered at the athletic display of prowess. The first dancer was lightning quick as he effortlessly flowed through the patterns. The fairies' favorite, the maid though he was not much to look at. She rejected more impressive looking men with little more than a withering glare and a sharp word every day on her trips to the market.

A cheer went out as in the span of an adrenaline-fueled heartbeat, the soldier staggered away from the dancer, clutching his sword arm with his free hand. The dancer shook his head and flicked blood off his blade; he alone had kept up with the _shamisen's _tempo. A medic held a thick cloth over the wound as his assistant readied needle and thread.

"Did you see his footwork? The way he moved?" Youmu gushed. The maid rolled her eyes, and then jerked her head. Staring at the hill's crest, she rubbed her eyes and squinted once more.

The _shamisen_ started again and two new soldiers flanked the dancer to the muffled cries of the hidden audience. Swords flashed and the dancer added twists and turns to his parries, avoiding cuts by slender margins. First striking to one side and then to the other, he kept the two soldiers at bay. Even to Sakuya's eye, the routines taught the steps to face two attackers. Cripple one, finish the other, and then return to the first. An unsettling thought gripped her. Why would someone be training an army inside Gensokyo?

While her mind whirled, at least she could appreciate the muscles and the movements. Youmu, on the other hand, was swept up in the spectacle of whirling blades and manly prowess. For all of Yuyuko's easy confidence in leading around her gentleman callers, her gardener never had much chance to learn. No man seeking Yuyuko's favor would look upon Youmu with a romantic eye.

Two more fighters jumped out, forming a loose square around the dancer. A whirlwind spun inside a box of blades. The dancer's blade swung in wide circles. In the span of four beat, he disarmed two opponents and rested his blade against the neck of a third. For the first time, Sakuya was truly impressed. Youmu squealed, squeezing her ghostly half.

The music stopped. A loud shout echoed through the camp, spurring the men into action. Soldiers ran, collecting swords, bows, and quarrels before settling into a ragged battle line.

Sakuya pulled Youmu down to the ground and froze. The fairies took to the air like a flock of birds. No one in the camp even turned towards the wood line. Sunny and Luna had to be up to their usual tricks.

"Who's Gregory?" Youmu murmured in the maid's ear.

Sakuya's blood ran cold. "Not 'Gregory.' _Grigori_. Watchers." Angels with a lust for humans and ancient adversaries of man. She looked out to where the battle line dressed itself in good order and marched towards a single figure on the hill. Even from a distance, Sakuya could tell it was a woman. Arrows flew past, billowing out her long blue hair. At first, the maid thought Tenshi had joined the audience, but the figure was not slender enough nor tall enough to be the willowy Celestial.

The soldier broke out into the easy jog of veterans saving energy for a short charge and mayhem at the end of the run. Archers ran in pairs, pausing only so that one could fire while the other reloaded. Before the battle line could close the distance, the woman in blue waved once and vanished like smoke in the wind.

The battle line halted. Officers barked orders and the line split into small parties. Each party set off in a different direction. One such party marched towards a section of the wood line close to the girls' hiding place.

Sakuya got a good hold on Youmu's vest and activated the Lunar Dial. Everything around them froze, the colors bleeding away until only shades of blue remained. "Time to go."

"But-" Youmu said, reaching for the camp and the dancer.

Sakuya shook her head, dragging the swordswoman away through the path that the Lunar Dial made in the brush and the trees.

* * *

><p>"Patchouli," Sakuya called out, walking through the labyrinthine bookshelves of the Voile Library. "Koakuma? Anyone?" She stopped and listened to the silence. Her ears adjusted until she heard a faint snore at the edge of audibility. The maid rolled her eyes and reached for her stopwatch. Within seconds, she appeared in a small clearing just large enough for a rectangular table piled high with leather tomes.<p>

The maid shook her head at the sight of the librarian slumped over the table. "You need to take better care of yourself."

Patchouli snored.

Sakuya traced a finger down one stack of books. She recognized the Latin letters on the spines, but some of the languages eluded her. Turning to the open book in front of Patchouli, she saw familiar Japanese syllabary scripts. Two words leapt off the page. Ley travel. After the razing of the Hakurei Barrier, no other topic captivated Gensokyo's resident magical mad scientists so thoroughly. Sakuya wondered why their energies weren't directed at replicating Suwako and Marisa's Divine Spark. At least that had hurt the Djinn.

A clear acetate scroll caught the maid's eye. Freezing time first, she unrolled a lopsided five-point star. Aligning the overlay on a map hanging from a bookshelf, she centered the star on Gensokyo. Someone had circled the point of the star that ended just north of Tokyo and written "Marisa?" next to it. Another point reached out across the sea, touching Vancouver Island and points beyond. Releasing time, she set the scroll on the table. It rolled up on itself with a clamor.

Patchouli still snored.

Sakuya searched for the lighter reading that the librarian inevitably stashed close to her research. Finding the brightly colored hardcover in Patchouli's lap, the maid lifted the lurid looking book into the air and let it drop. The book slammed against the floor with a meaty thump.

Patchouli's eyes snapped open. "I told you not to do that to my books," she said, standing up and staring Sakuya down. The librarian looked at the fallen book and her eyes widened. "My autographed premium edition advance reader's copy of Richard Castle's _Heat Wave_!" She scooped the hardcover off the floor and set it gently on the table. Patchouli lifted a larger, heavier book over her head and advanced on Sakuya. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't flatten you right now."

"I need a favor," Sakuya said. She giggled nervously as she stepped away from the enraged bookworm.

"Not good enough," Patchouli wheezed. She sat down, panting. "Don't think that this is over."

"I'm sorry about your book," Sakuya said, sitting across the table from the librarian. "It looked like one of Koa's romances."

Patchouli rolled her eyes and huffed. "It isn't. So what do you want? I'm busy."

"Busy sleeping, you mean. You're pushing yourself too hard."

Patchouli shook her head. "It's all Nitori's fault with that project of hers. Byakuren's just egging her on." The librarian sighed, a wistful smile gracing her lips. "But no one's done this type of research in almost a century, so it's hard not to get caught up. Or find anything on it, for that matter."

"I know I'm going to regret this, but what project?"

"She thinks she can map ley lines. I think I can predict them, but she's thinking like a surveyor, not a researcher. Still, someone has to tell her where to look."

"I knew it. Just don't get too wrapped up in it that you forget to eat and sleep again," Sakuya said. She took out the paper with the copied emblem, unfolded it, and slid it over. "Speaking of research, recognize this?"

"You know, you're not helping," Patchouli said, glaring at the maid. The librarian picked up the page and turned it, examining the design closely. "I don't have time to follow up on some curious girl's every whim."

"You do have assistants."

"Yes, I do. And to get Koa to do this, I have to figure out who's bed to roust her from," Patchouli said, setting the paper down. "Let's see, today's a Wednesday-" She counted on her fingers until she ran out. "Can you just lend me some of the fairy maids instead?"

Sakuya laughed mirthlessly. "If you think that you can get some actual work out of them, be my guest."

"I'll just tell them that Koa's been eyeing their boyfriends. They'll quickly do what I want after that."

The maid blinked. "I never thought of that." Sakuya shook her head. "Look, I found that symbol at an armed camp by the border-" A hand bell rang in the distance. "I need to see to Milady. Please let me know if you find anything." In the space between breaths, the elegant maid vanished.

* * *

><p>Two-hundred thirty-eight.<p>

Two-hundred thirty-nine.

Sakuya stopped climbing the stairway to the White Jade Tower only long enough to wipe her brow. Up in the distance, she could see the edge of the Gardens of the White Jade Tower, but that was kilometers away. Not for the first time, she marveled that Youmu actually ran the stairway every day as part of her training. After Sakuya had tried it once, her lower body hurt for a week.

Two-hundred seventy-seven.

Two-hundred seventy-eight.

Time to fly, as the gods intended. Sakuya bounded into the air, soaring on the winds. The stairway passed rapidly beneath her until an immense courtyard came into view. At the edge, a figure in blue twirled in circles, metal flashing around in complicated figures as she flowed like water from one cut to another.

Sakuya landed, dropping into a curtsy. "Lady Yuyuko-"

The figure stopped twirling. Twin swords dropped to her sides as Youmu stared at Sakuya, red-faced. Wearing one of Yuyuko's gowns cinched tight around her waist, the swordswoman reminded Sakuya of a young girl playing with her mother's wardrobe. Youmu shrunk in on herself and her ghost flew in front of the gardener, obscuring her in fog.

"Sakuya, how long have you been there?"

"Not long," the maid said, standing.

"This isn't what you think?" Youmu's face glowed a deep scarlet.

Sakuya bit back a laugh. Youmu's routine seemed designed to draw the eye to the lines and curves of her body and not to highlight her skill with the blade. It did not take much imagination to see the hand of the Courtesan Ghost in the dance, although she expected Youmu would deny it vehemently. "Very little is. Patchouli found that emblem. Since when has Clan Soga had a warband in Gensokyo? And when did Clan Soga get here in the first place?"

"This doesn't sound like Tojiko's doing," Youmu said, her normal paleness returning. "But she's friends with Futo, Miko, and Miss Kitty. Any of those three are crafty enough to run cons on Yukari."

Sakuya blinked. "Miss Kitty?"

"Lady Seiga has the title of Lady Nyan Nyan. Marisa came up with the nickname when she noticed how much her title sounded like a cat's meow."

"Who are all these people?"

Youmu sheathed her blades. "That's right. You were busy when all the spirits ran wild. Just another incident. Taoist missionaries this time."

"I bet Reimu just loved that. So, did they have a warband then?"

"Just a zombie obsessed with skin care."

Sakuya blinked. By now, she should no longer be surprised by Gensokyo, but even now and then something odd slipped past her defenses. "I guess I need to get out of the mansion more often."

"Did Patchi find out anything about the Watcher?"

"'… but they chose husbands and wives from among the humans and lived greatly debauched lives…'" Sakuya quoted. She looked at Youmu with a spreading wry smile. "Looks like you've got some competition."

"It's an incident!" Youmu said, slamming a fist against her palm.

Sakuya hid her giggles behind a coughing fit. "Will Lady Yuyuko let you go?"

"She's too busy at Lady Yukari's palace these days to care," Youmu said. She looked down at her gown. "Can you give me a moment before we leave? I don't fly well in a long skirt."

"Sure," Sakuya said with a laugh.


End file.
